Hitch device



May 30,1944. c. G. STRANDLUND HITCH DEVICE Filed Sept, 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l nhm hm INVENTOR Curl Strandlund May 30, 1944. c. G. STRANDLUND HITCH DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1941 INVENTOR Curl G. Strundlund Patented May 30, 1944 Carl StrandluridtMolinej Ill., assignor to Deere 8a Company, Molinc', 111., a corporation of. Illinois Application September 24, 194l ,Serial No. 412135 7 Claims.

agricultural implements and more particularly to evener bars harrows.

The object and general nature of the present" invention is the provision of a simple inexpensive evener the parts of which are so constructed" for use with multi-sect'ion that'they are not likely to come apart or become disengaged in operation. Heretofore', where eveners have included parts bolted to,- gether, considerable difficulty and annoyance have been experienced due to the bolts and similar fastenings becoming loosened during service and allowing parts to become disconnected. In

simple and sturdy evener in which only one bolt is, used throughout the entire evener. More specif-A ically, it is a feature of this invention to provide an evener madeup of a transverse evener bar and draft links, the evener bar having apering hook-like ends which are particularly formed so that when once engaged in apertures in the evener bar and then bolted together... at their forward or converging ends, the draft links are securely connected to the evener .bar without the use of bolts or other extraneous means. Another feature of the present invention is the provision of similar means effecting a connec tion between the harrow section draft links'and the evener bar, which connection once estabone form of the present invention, I provide a V tures in the web thereof and'the draft links hav-" lished is permanent and lasts substantially the life of the harrow. i a t I .Another important feature. of the presentinvention is the provision of an evener of the convertible type, in which the-above-mentioned features are incorporated. Further, it is a feature of thisinvention to provide an evener whichais made up 'of two aligned evenerbarsconnected together by means: including U-bolts, with the consequent advantage that U-bolts are not like, 1y to loosen during. service as are conventional.- bolts in whichwhen the nut becomes slightly. loose, both the bolt and the nut may'turn, whereas with Ubolts, the bolt itself '-is not per-W mitted to turn in the openings in theparts which it secures. v

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be'apparent to' those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in con junction with" the accompanying drawings in which the preferred forms of the-present in vention have been shown.

The present invention relates generally' to "In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a planfview of an evener for a two} section harrow, in which only one fastening bolt has been used;

Figure 2 illustrates the manner of engaging the draft links with the evener bar;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side view, taken generally along the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the bolt means securing the forward ends of the draft links to the hitch member associated therewith;

Figure 4 illustrates the manner in which the U-shaped members, connecting the harrow sec= tion draft links with the evener bar, are connected to the evener bar; I

Figure 5 is a plan view of a four-section harrow evener;

Figure '6 is a view 'of' parts of the harrow shown in Figure 5, reduced to a two-section harrow evener;

Figure '7' is an enlarged fragmentary view, showing the fastening means securing the adjacent'inner. endsof the aligned evener bars of the evener shown in Figure 5;

'Figure 8 is a fragmentary'view of the central section of the harrow shown in Figure 6, in whichthe evener bar comprises one of the two bars of the evener shown in Figure 5; t

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the connection of the intermediate draft link to the central portionof one of the two evenerbars employed inthe evener shown in Figure 5; and v -Figure 10 is a fragmentary view showing the manner of connecting one of the diagonal draft links to the evener bar inthe evener shown in 'Figure' 6,

Referring now to the drawings; more particularly Figures 14, the evener shown comprises a one-piece evener ban] and three draft links 2,

3 and 4, the draft links 2 and 4 preferably being As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, the evener bar I is preferably of T -section having a vertical web 15 and front and rear flanges l6 and IT; The web flange I5 is apertured at a plurality of points to receive the rear ends 'of'the links -1', 3

and 4 and the associated draft connections with the harrow sections. Centrally, the evener bar I is provided with three pairs of openings, the center pair receiving the U-shaped hook end l8 of the center link 3. As will be seen from Figure 1, the hook end l8 at the rear end of the draft link 3 includes generally parallel side portions l9 and 29, the latter terminating in a forwardly directed end which is'formed with an opening therein to receive a cotter or other fastening means 2|.

The rear ends of the other draft links land. 4, which preferably are identical, are also formed with hook-like portions indicatedszattfl and 25; As best shown in Figure 2', the-hooh-end-M is: formed as a substantially U-shaped section havhence a description of one will suffice. Referring now to Figures 1 and 4, each harrow section connection, is. indicated by the reference numeral 35, and each includes one or more links 36, the forward one of which is connected to a U-shaped member 3! (Figure 4), the side portions 38 and "3901 which are inserted through openings 4m .'i irftheiweb l5 of the evener bar I.

The U-shaped member 31, (Figure 4) during manufacture is ing parallel side portions 26 and;21 connected by;

a curved or bight portion 28. The side portions 26 and 21 of the hook 24 are parallel and @6 evener-bar l-are'apertured, as at'3l (Figure 2'),

to receive the hook ends of the links land. 4.

Th'eumanner of inserting the hook ends 24- and Z5- ofxthe diagonal'ldraft links-2' and 4is best shown in Figure 2. The-draftvlinks land. 4 are connected withthe'evener'ban l before the forward ends of the links are connected by; the bolt 1. Asbestshown in Figure 2., when. inserting the hookxendi. 24 f the link-2, the: latter. is: placed: generally acrossth'e evener barlandthe: freeend of the side portion 2:1 is passeds throughthe opening 3|- of the; F -bar: l-. After engagingthe end of the side portion 21 in the opening:'3i,; the" link-2; isim'oved forwardly =thereinla distances sufficie'nttto permit the linkz2 being swung upwardly in the opening 3| to substantially arvertical position', as shownby the broken'zline positioninFigure -2. Afterbeing swung upwardly-to a: vertical position, thedraftlink 2 can thenibe swung gen.- erally about a longitudinal axisidowninto' ahorizontal-position, indicated; by. the: dot: and'dash lines in Figure 2,..with' the side portions 26 and 21. oftlie' hook end: 24? lying on opposite sides offthe central web l5:oftlie evenerfbar I. The other diagonal draft link 4 is connectedswith thezeven'er bar I in the-samemanner; Thethookxend: F81 at the-rear end of the central draft'linkZS -is:insert-edi T by first passing-the free- 'endvo'r" sidet- 2-;I: of? the hook rearwardly through the left hand opening. (Figure 1:). of the'centeripainof openih'gsxin the evener bar: I: Thisrisfo'llowedby passing-tthe" curved portiontofithe hoolc section It andfina-llylthe other side portion l9 of the hook section: l8 into the left-handopening. The: draft link 3=may then" be: shifted rearwardly beyond: the: position shown in Figure L and rotated about its-llongitudinal' axisso as toplace the: side portion, of the hook section l8: in aspositioni to enter'the other opening of the; central pair of openings in the intermediate portion of. the: evener bar I. The draft link. 3- isthen: shifted forwardly to bring, the side section: 20: of the hoolc I18: into a the-- corresponding opening inlthe. central. portion of the-evenerbar I, after which the cotter 21 can be inserted; After'the-draft'links 2;, 3'and 4;.have been connected" as described above, thebolt: 1 is-inserted through the eyes fi,connecting the straps 8-and Sthereto. and; insaddition, connecting the forwardportions of-the draft: links -so= that, ass-particularly regardsthe.- diagonal draft;

gopoeives'the' rear end ofa center draft link 66, the

.sentj to the: assemblyline in the form shown in full'lin'es' inl i'guiie- 41 The assembl man inserts the side portions 38' and 39 through the openings; 41m and: thenibyany suitable means bends the ends 31a and 31b laterally outwardly into the position shown in broken lines in Figure 4. This forms aipermanent connection. between the links 35 andsthe: evenenbar .a connection. which ordinarily-willdast th'elifetime ofthe: evener; However, if excessive wear occurs and the sections:3'la' and; 3-11). are sheared off, it would: be. a" simple matter for theefarmer to :replace the: broken part with onerof the-unbent members 31, insert-mgr the-gside portions38and 39 through the openings 4t andythen bendin the ends 3m and 31b over i with arhammer or other tool;

Referring now, to. the, modified; for-mi of; the in.-

vention: shown in Figures 5-10, it will. be seen that-the evener shown. in Figured is adapted to receivefounharrow sections S, asshown in dotted lines. The connecting means. between eachbarrowwsection, and the evener. bar. is substantially the: same; as.- the connecting means described,

evener:bar-:andlthenflbent over, together with one or: more links, 43 connecting. the member 4|.-to the associ'atedharrow section S.

Ill-lieevener-.banfor the. evenershownin Figure l 5 "is; indicated; in itsentirety. by; the ,reference 3numerali50fand'lis made up off two. T-shaped. bars 5'! and152, secured. together inaligned. relation by; agconnecting structure indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral in Figure. 5,... This connecting; structure, as bestshownin Eigure '7; comprises a pair ofplates 56I-and 51; aper-Q tured,as at58j tol receive three U-bolts Bil ,.62.and 631. Theiadjacent ends of the websl53 and. 54. of 'theT' bars 5| and 52' are alsoap ertured, as at.

59 and 60, alsofor the purpose ,ofreceiving the rear; endfpreferably beingiin" the form of an eye. Nuts 61 are threaded onto the end of the U-bolts BI; '62 and 63 and are provided with lock washers and serveto clamp the plates 56' and; 51 in ,position on opposite sides of" the'web sections 53 54" of? tldeevener bars 5! and 52.

The four-section narrow evener shownin- Figure 5 is provided with five draft linksj one of which? is? indicated at 66; The'other links extend diagonally rearwardly andare indicated bythe reference numerals 15, 16, Hand 78. The'laterally outer links 1 5' and 18; are jointed or a-rti culated andboth theinner: diagonal links 76 and l1 and the? laterally outer, diagonah link :15: and" 18 are provided at theirrear-ends-with hook-like sections 8|, 82, 83 and BlQthes'e sections being preferably identical with one another and'with the hook section 24 shown in Figure 2. The vertical web of each of the evener bars 5| and 52 is provided with a pair of apertures 9| and 92 (Figure9) generally in the central portion of the evener bar, as best shown in Figure 5. The hook ends 82'and 83 of the intermediate diagonal draft links 16- and 11 are disposed in'one opening of each of the two pairs of central openings 9| and 92. The hook ends 8| and. 84'ofthe laterally outer draft links 15 and 18 are engaged in openings 93 and 94 formed in the outer end portion of the two evener bars 5| and 52. The outermost ends of the evener bars 5| and 52 are formed with additional openings 95 and 96 for a purpose which will appear later. The forward ends of all of the draft links 65, 15, 16, Hand 18 are formed with eyes to receive a hitch member Illa, substantially'the same as the hitch member l shown in Figure 1. The bolt which secures the ends of the draft links 66, 15, 16, TI and I8 togetheris indicated by the reference numeral 98 inFigure 5. r a

The evener showninFig-ure is, as mentioned above, adapted to be connected to four harrow sections, but an evener of this type is adapted to be reduced to form an eveneradapted to receive two sections, and in order to do this, the connection 55 is dismantled and one of the evener bars, such as the evener bar 52, is used with the three draft links 66, 1B and 11 and the associated hitch member Ina. Referring to Figure 6, this figure shows the manner in which the parts just mentioned are assembled 'to form an evener for-two harrow sections.

removed from the opening 9| (Figure 9) and inserted in the opening 96 (Figure 6). Also, the hook end 82.of the link 16 is removed from the opening 9| in the left hand evener bar 5| and inserted in the opening 60 (Figure '79 in the left end of the evener bar 52. The U-bolt 62 at the rear end of thecenter draft link-66 is inserted through the openings 9| and 92 (Figure 9) in the central portion of the evener bar 52, between the two U-shaped connectors 4| of the'associated harrowsection connections. Then the bolt 98 is connected to the eyes at the forward ends of the draft links 66, I6 and 11 and the hitch member l0a connected thereto. Thus, without the provision of any other parts, I am enabled to provide a two-section evener by using parts of the four-section evener shown in Figure 5, the only addition required being additional openings in the web of at least one of the evener bars 5| and 52.

While I have shown and described above the preferred structure in which the principles of the present invention have been incorporated, it is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the particular details shown and described above, but that, in fact, Widely different means may be employed in the practice of the broader aspects of my invention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An evener bar for harrows and the like, comprising a main evener bar having a generally vertical web with apertures therein adjacent one edge thereof, and a pair of forwardly conerging draft links connected together at their forward ends and having hook portions at their rear ends, each of said hook portion being normally disposed in a generally horizontal plane As best shown in Figure 6, the end 83 of the draft link 1! is and including a pair of straight parallel sections spaced apart a distance substantially equal to thethickness of said vertical web and a curved section-joining said parallel sections, the openings inthe web being spaced from the edge thereof 'adist'ance' no greater than the distance between said spaced apart parallel sections, whereby by'shifting said links forwardly and then upwardly and laterally inwardly, the side portions of said hook portions may be brought down in close fitting relation on opposite sides of said web and said draft links connected together at their forward ends so as to prevent disengagement of said hook portions from said evener bar. 2. An evener for multi-section harrows and the like, comprising a main evener bar having a pair of apertures in the central portion thereof and apertures adjacent the ends, a plurality of draft links connected together at their forward ends, one of said draft links extending substantially directly rearwardly and having a U-shaped hook portion at its rear end with the sides of said hook portion disposed in the pair of apertures in the central portion of said evener bar, the other draft links diverging rearwardly and having their rear ends formed with U-shaped hook portions disposed generally at an angle to the main body of the links, respectively, said latter U-shapedhook portions being engaged in the apertures adjacent the ends of said evener bar and generally parallel to the web thereof, and means preventing rearward displacement of said center link relative to said evener bar, the parallel portions of said laterally outer U-shaped hook portions serving to prevent displacement of said links by engagement with the sides of the web of said evener bar.

An evener for a pair of harrow sections, comprising a one-piece evener bar of substantially 'T-section with the web thereof disposed generally vertically and provided with a plurality of apertures therein, three draft links extending forwardly in generally convergent relation,a hitch member to which the forward ends of said draft .links are connected, the center draft link having a hook-like end at its rear disposed in openings in the central portion of said evener bar, the side portions of said hooklike end extending generally forwardly, the rear ends of the other links being formed with sub stantially U-shaped hook-like portions and disposed in openings adjacent the laterally outer ends of said evener bar with the side portions of said hook-like ends extending generally transversely on opposite sides of the web of said evener bar, whereby the rear ends of said last mentioned links remain engaged with said evener bar so long as the forward ends thereof are connected together, a pair of harrow section receiving connections associated with the central portion of said evener bar and including a pair of U-shaped members having their forward ends extending forwardly through openings in the central portion of said evener bar and bent laterally, and a second harrow receiving connection associated with each of the outer ends of said evener bar, including a generally U-shaped member having its ends extending forwardly through openings in the evener bar and bent laterally to retain the same in place in said evener bar.

4. An evener convertible from a four-section evener to a two-section evener, comprising a pair of evener bars, means connecting the adjacent ends of said evener bars together to form an evener bar having a length suiilcient to span four harrow' -sections; the adjacent ends. of said Ievener bars 1 being apertured', a dratt-li'nk structure for said evener bars, including a center draft link and means securing: the (same tozthe central portion of said aligned evener bars, saidrmea-ns' including attaching means I passing through. said openings in the adjacent ends of said evener bars, said link structure also including two pairs of rearwardly divergent-links connected at-their for-Ward ends with said center link, the two inner divergent links havinghook-like ends adapted to engage in: openings generally in the central portion of each of saidalignedevener bars, the laterallyouter end of at least one of said evener bars having an aperture therein spaced from the outer end: of the barsubstantially the same distance as the opening in the other end: of said bar, the means connecting said evener bars in alignment and the means connecting the rear: endof the center linkto the: aligned bars being removable and the rear hook ends of the inner divergent links being disposable in the openings, respectively, in the end portions of said one evener bar. v

5. An evener for harrows and the like, comprising a main evener bar, having an aperture at each end, the axis of each aperture extending in a generally fore and aft direction, and a pair of rea-rwardly diverging draft links connected togetherat their forward ends and disposed in a generally horizontal plane, said draft links having their rearends formed with hook portions disposed in saidhorizontal plane and generally at an angle to the main bodyj'of' the links, respectively, and engaged with said bar, said latter hook portions each including parallel sections disposed, respectively, on opposite sides of said evener bar and spaced apart in a fore and aft direction a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the portion of the bar embraced thereby;

6.= An evener convertible from a four-section evener to a two-section evener, comprising a pair of evener bars, means connecting the adjacent ends of said evenerbars together to form an evener bar having a length sufficient to span four-harrow sections or the like, a draft link structur'e'for'said evener bars, including a center draft link and means securing the same to the central portion ofvsaid, aligned evener bars, said link structureralso'r' including twopairs of rearwardly divergent links connected at their forward ends with saidcenterlink, means releasably connecting the outer links to the outer ends of evener bars andrmeans optionally connecting the rear ends of the laterally inner of said divergent links to the middle portions of said' evener bars, respectively, or to the end portionsof one'of said evener bars, the-means connecting the rear" enct of thencenter' link to the aligned bars being removable therefrom andattachableto the center portion of said one evener bar, whereby toform an evener to receive two harrow sections or'the like.

7. An evener for harrows and the like, comprising: main evener barha-ving: an aperture at each end, the axis of each aperture extending in a generally fore and aft direction, and a pair of rearwardly diverging: draft links normally connected together' at their forward ends and disposed in a generally horizontal plane when in draft-transmitting position, each of said draft links having its rear end formed with hook portions disposed: generally at anangle to the main body of the link andrengaged with said bar, said hook portionseach including sections disposed,

respectively, onopposite: sides of said evener bar and spaced apart in a fore and aft direction a distance substantially equal to the thickness of theportion of the bar embraced thereby, each of the apertures in said bar being spaced from an edge thereof a distance substantially no" greater than the" spacingbetween said hook portions, whereby by first inserting the outer portion of said' hook portions of one of said links through one of said apertures and then swinging the link laterally and downwardly into its normal draft-transmitting position, said hook portions are brought into substantially close fitting relation on opposite sides of' the engaged por-' 

